President William Ruto has affirmed that the planned nationwide livestock vaccination will proceed, despite opposition from certain groups. He stressed that the initiative is vital for ensuring the country’s livestock are free from diseases, which will open doors for Kenya to export more animal products to international markets.
“We want to create a disease-free country so we can market our livestock products to destinations where we have been denied access due to inadequate disease control,” he said.
The president strongly criticized critics of the vaccination program, calling anyone opposing the initiative to eliminate Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) “mad and unreasonable.”
“Anybody opposing vaccination to eliminate FMD and PPR is simply mad and unreasonable and possibly stupid.
“Honestly, how else can you explain it? Perhaps they don’t have cattle, or maybe they don’t understand the importance of this initiative,” Ruto remarked at the annual pastoralists’ leadership summit in Wajir.
Ruto condemned leaders who continue to mislead the public about the vaccination drive’s purpose. He described such actions as misguided and emphasized that the government’s goal is to vaccinate 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep nationwide, starting in January.
Ruto assured farmers that the vaccines to be used will be produced locally by the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI). He urged farmers to prepare for the vaccination and ignore the false narratives spread by some leaders.
As a cattlekeeper himself, Ruto expressed his full support for the initiative. He pointed out that the country has been battling livestock diseases for years.
“It is the right to do, so if you are used to planting things… you don’t know about livestock, shut up, at least for those of us who keep cattle,” he said.
